What’s this? Is there really Padres player worth watching?

Of 47 pitchers with 1,500 innings logged since 2000, Marquis is 40th in strikeout rate, 43rd in walk rate.

But unlike 20 of those 47 pitchers, Jason Marquis is still getting outs and winning games. And he doesn’t much care what anyone thinks about how he does it.

“Whatever it is, I don’t care, the one or the five,” Marquis said of his spot in any team’s rotation as we talked at his locker in Baltimore on Tuesday afternoon, the day before his most recent start. Marquis is uncommonly bright, a ...

The previously highest paid player in franchise history was Carmelo Martinez, who made $490,000 back in 1989.

Chase Headley said he “didn‘t know how to respond” Wednesday afternoon after learning that the Padres are planning to offer their star third baseman a multi-year contract that would make him the highest-paid player in franchise history.

“To be honest, this is not something we’ve discussed,” Headley said at Wrigley Field.

Earlier Wednesday, Ron Fowler, the executive ...

Very good article, with different people’s perspectives on what it’s like to play in such a homer-suppressing environment. I had been unaware of the “marine layer”.

Petco Park has one of the coldest average game-time temperatures in the Major Leagues as well as one of the highest game-time humidity levels in the game. And that marine layer that rolls in off the Pacific Ocean, which sits outside the doorstep of the ballpark, makes it tough to elevate a ball at night.

“I remember Mike Morse, I ...

Please read…

As an autism awareness advocate and parent of a child on the spectrum, Garfinkel’s comments struck a nerve. Being a caregiver to one with autism is hard enough. Having an exec make the comment, and having the season-ticket holders laugh was rubbing salt in the wound. “Rain Man,” of course, was an autistic savant. April is International Autism Awareness month. And the day before the brawl was Autism Awareness day at PETCO Park. It added up, and the seething turned into a ...

Zack doesn’t even like Wapner!

Padres CEO and Team President Tom Garfinkel spoke with season ticket holders last Friday, less than 48 hours after the Zack Greinke/ Carlos Quentin incident that resulted in Greinke breaking his collarbone. Yahoo Sports obtained audio of Garfinkel’s talk. Garfinkel was of the belief that Greinke was throwing at Quentin intentionally, and explained-away it being a 2-1 game and a 3-2 count by comparing Zack Greinke to Raymond Babbitt.

“Zack Greinke is a ...

“There’s been many different ideas and thoughts and concerns out there,” Quentin said Sunday. “Let me say this as far as the Dodgers series: Obviously I will miss the upcoming one but I will be a part of the rest. We play them many times.”

Quentin charged the mound after he was hit in the upper left arm by a pitch from Greinke. The two players lowered their shoulders and Quentin slammed into Greinke, who broke his left collarbone in the wild fight that ensued.

Quentin has said he felt ...

San Diego Padres outfielder Carlos Quentin will appeal the eight-game suspension he received after inciting a brawl during which Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke broke his left collarbone.
After Greinke hit Quentin on the arm with a 3-2 pitch in the sixth inning of a one-run game, the 30-year-old bull-rushed the mound at Petco Park. Greinke threw his glove off, stood his ground and got trucked, swallowed by a pile of Dodgers and Padres who cleared the benches.
Greinke will have surgery ...

Word to Carlos Quentin: Assuming you aren’t suspended, the pitch headed towards you in next week’s series with the Dodgers is probably going to be intentional.

The art of playing an unfair game…

There are some very serious gay baseball fans out there who rank players by batting average and wins above replacement (WAR). The rest rank them by attraction and aspiration: who’s hot, who might be gay and who must be gay.

Most gay Padres fans in the early ’90s no doubt put boyishly handsome outfielder Billy Bean on the first two lists. Those who had him on the “must be gay” list share a unique status among baseball observers: they are sure they ...

Sure, Jeff Suppan would listen if John Boehner called.

Colusa County Supervisor Kim Vann is likely to challenge Rep. John Garamendi in the Sacramento-area 3rd District. Former state Sen. Tony Strickland is expected to run again, most likely forging a rematch with freshman Rep. Julia Brownley in the Ventura County-based 26th District.

There’s some talk that Strickland would take a look at the neighboring 25th District if GOP Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon opts for retirement. One plugged-in ...

Padres third baseman Chase Headley will be out for about a month with a small fracture in his left thumb, reports MLB.com’s Corey Brock. It does not appear surgery is necessary. Earlier this afternoon, CBSSports.com’s Jon Heyman reported the team was “concerned” the injury could be something serious.

Headley, 28, fractured his thumb while sliding into second base on Sunday. The early diagnosis indicated the digit was jammed, but obviously more serious damage was done. The switch-hitting ...

Behold!

Mike Piazza’s got a new autobiography in the bookstores, and I spent a week sort of semi-obsessed with it.  I can’t figure out precisely why this particular ex-ballplayer’s memoir got inside my head. But I have a couple of ideas.

One, the book is exceptionally well-written, which isn’t all that surprising, considering Piazza’s co-author was Lonnie Wheeler, who’s written or co-written a number of fine books over the years… And two, Mike Piazza—and I should be very clear that when I write ...

Former Dodgers first base great Steve Garvey, a 10-time All-Star and 1974 National League MVP, is battling prostate cancer.

Garvey said that his prostate was removed at UCLA Medical Center in October after his cancer was diagnosed the previous month and that he now hopes to devote a considerable amount of his time to prostate cancer awareness.

They mean an actual horror movie, not a comeback with the current Royals.

Former Royals outfielder and Blue Springs High School graduate Brian McRae is set to appear in a horror movie called “Gravedigger.”

Couldn’t be that Brian McRae, right? The International Movie Database (imdb.com) cast list includes that McRae, who played for the Royals from 1990-94, before going to the Cubs, Mets, Rockies and Blue Jays.

McRae won’t be the only former major leaguer in the flick. Billy Sample, ...

You may remember right-hander Karsten Whitson, who was drafted ninth overall by the Padres in 2010 before turning down $2.1 million to attend the University of Florida. It turns out that his gamble might not pay off.

Per Aaron Fitt of Baseball America, Florida baseball head athletic trainer Pat Hassell announced yesterday that Whitson would miss the start of the season due to continued shoulder fatigue. The exact nature of today’s procedure isn’t yet known, but Whitson’s father, Kent ...

Former Los Angeles Dodger Milton Bradley was charged today with 13 counts related to several alleged attacks on his estranged wife, and could get up to 13 years behind bars ... TMZ has learned.

The City Attorney’s Office has filed charges against Bradley stemming from 5 different incidents. The charges break down like this: 4 counts of spousal battery, 4 counts of criminal threats, 2 counts of assault with a deadly weapon, 2 counts of vandalism and 1 count of dissuading a witness from ...

Kevin Towers’ mind is a raging torrent, flooded with rivulets of thought cascading into a waterfall of creative alternatives.

Justin Upton for Chase Headley?

The Arizona Diamondbacks and San Diego Padres have held on-and-off discussions about a trade involving those players since July, but the talks have failed to progress, according to major-league sources.

The Diamondbacks, however, continue to discuss Upton with other clubs, including the Texas Rangers and Seattle Mariners…

The Rangers ...

“• Then there was Mark DeRosa. He made the mistake of jumping off his seat in the dugout to high-five Bryce Harper in May after Harper had just stolen home—and aggravated an oblique injury when the Boy Wonder got a little carried away with his palm-pounding routine. DeRosa didn’t play again for six weeks. And you thought Harper’s takeout slides were scary.”

Bryce Harper injuring Mark Derosa is one of those little things elite players do that don’t show up in the box score. Worth ...

Puzzling strategy. With Ludwick, Chris Heisey, Drew Stubbs, and Jay Bruce, aren’t the Reds outfielders going to wilt in the hot sun due to their skin color?

Ryan Ludwick and the Cincinnati Reds agreed to a $2.5 million, one-year contract Monday, according to a person with knowledge of the deal.

The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Monday night because the deal was pending a physical and no announcement had been made by the team.

An All-Star in 2008 with St. ...

Here we go again:

Major League Baseball has been embarrassed in recent years by financial debacles surrounding the ownership of the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets. And baseball is determined to avoid being burned again, Forbes.com reports.

That’s the real reason owners tabled approval of the sale of the San Diego Padres to Jeff Moorad at last week’s owners meetings, the report says. Commissioner Bud Selig is not convinced of the net worth of Moorad’s limited partners and is ...

Bartolo Colon has agreed to a deal with an unknown club reports Bob Nightengale of USA Today (on Twitter). The right-hander wouldn’t divulge the team because he has not yet passed his physical.

Pretty sure it’s either the All-Stars or the Champs.

With the Hall of Fame results being announced today, we decided to take a trip down memory lane and dig up some old scouting reports from the Baseball America archives on some of the ballot’s notable candidates. . .

8. Barry Larkin, ss, 21, 5-11, 175, R-R
Larkin looked right at home in AA, hitting .267 for Vermont. He didn’t show power (one home run in 255 at-bats), but that will come. The key for him was just getting his feet on the ground, and he was not overpowered by the high level of ...

Theo: You’re looking good, Riz.
Rizzo: Eat your heart out.
Theo: And sloppy seconds are my style!

The Cubs acquired first baseman Anthony Rizzo and right-hander Zach Cates from the Padres on Friday, sending right-hander Andrew Cashner and outfielder Kyung-Min Na to San Diego.

The 22-year-old Rizzo batted .331 with a 1.056 OPS, 34 doubles, 26 homers and 101 RBIs in 93 games for Triple-A Tucson last year… Rated the top first-base prospect in the league by MLB.com, Rizzo struggled during his ...

DL: Should you pitch more to contact in Petco than in other ballparks?

BB: I think that you can, but there are a couple of ways to look at that. You don’t want to lay the ball in there. But I do think that it can help you mentally — knowing that if you throw the ball to certain spots — you can feel good about it. When you’re behind in the count, you can throw to certain spots, as well.

More than anything, if you’re a strike-thrower… that helps you at Petco. If you’re an extreme ...